ADA – The East Central University men's basketball team ended the 2015 portion of the season on a high note, with a 94-59 win over Southwestern Adventist in the Kerr Activities Center, in front of a large crowd of local fifth graders in the annual Field Trip Day.

The Tigers (6-3) were led by senior Deron Hill, who earned his first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Hill also added nine assists and a steal, while shooting 5-of-8 from the floor. 

Junior Braxton Reeves led the scoring for ECU, with 22 points, while senior Stirling Thomas added 20.  Junior Aly Hudgins also had a strong day with 10 points, seven assists and five rebounds.

The Tigers opened the game on a hot streak, holding the Knights without a field goal for the first three minutes, while scoring 10 points of their own.  ECU kept up the intensity through the half, increasing the least to as many as 28 before going into the locker room with a 52-27 advantage.

The second half started out as a back-and-forth battle, with the Tigers holding the lead around 25 points before pushing that out to 30, with 8:54 left to play.  ECU really pushed the tempo of the game with about eight minutes remaining and built the lead out to as many as 46 (92-46) points and ended the game with a 94-59 victory.

All-around play was a key to the victory, as the Tigers recorded 28 assists on their 34 made shots for the game and shot 45.9 percent from the field.  ECU also out-rebounded SWAU 48-38. 

The Tigers also spread out their scoring and rebounding, with all but three of the 13 who played earning at least one point and all but one recording a rebound.

ECU will now be off until Saturday, Jan. 2 when they host Missouri-St. Louis at 2 p.m. in the Kerr Activities Center.